Presidents of U.S. and Israel Greet Labor Zionist Convention

The national convention of Farband, Labor Zionist Order, being held here, today received greetings from President Eisenhower and Israel President Itzhak Ben Zvi lauding the fraternal and cultural activities of the organization.

Louis Segal, general secretary of the organization, told the 400 delegates from 100 cities in the United States and Canada, that the Farband now has 28,167 members and that about one-quarter of its members are English-speaking. The organization was reported to have over $4,000,000 in assets and to have raised $24,000,000 for Israel and for cultural work during the 41 years of its existence.

The convention was greeted on behalf of the Israel Government by Michael Comay, Israel’s Minister to Canada. Other speakers at today’s session included Dr. Sarah Feder, president of the Pioneer Women; Gedaliah Zakiff, who greeted the delegates on behalf of the Zionist Organization of Canada; and A. Hamlin who spoke for the Histadrut campaign. Maurice Samuel and Jacob Gladstein, two noted writers, spoke on the future of American Jewry and urged an exchange of human material between this country and Israel.